As leaders work to maintain resilience amidst fast-changing working conditions, many are making purpose, inclusion and collaboration a priority. Is it enough? What happens when those same leaders become intentional in their pursuit of culture as a driver of financial performance?
In this talk, we take a closer look at The ROI of Culture. Peter Rentschler, CEO at Metafora, shares how he and his team led a cultural transformation that resulted in a 300% growth in revenue over pre-pandemic levels. He is joined by Maggie Domondon, Metafora VP of People, for a conversation moderated by Thea Durfee Polancic, Managing Partner at ClearSpace LLC.
In case you missed it, or just want a refresher, you can catch the full panel below, and we're sharing some of the key takeaways in this article.
In Metafora’s early days, back when it was still known as “CarrierDirect”, there was a time when our company culture wasn’t as strong and impactful as it is now. Shortly after Peter took over the company circa 2016, he realized something wasn’t working… There was high turnover and no sense of a shared mission. Peter was inspired to take intentional steps to right this ship. He called an “All Hands” with the team, and was open and honest about what he saw and what he was doing as part of his commitment to finding a solution. He also asked the team to be open and honest with him about what was and more importantly, wasn’t working. This was difficult but necessary, and it was a pivotal step toward Metafora’s cultural revolution.
Hiring Maggie Domondon made a huge impact in Metafora’s culture. In Peter and Maggie’s first meeting, Peter had a list of ideas for HR. Maggie essentially said, “Great! Let me also go talk to all the employees to get their input as well. Then I’ll compare lists and we can determine next steps from there.”
From these conversations with each team member, Maggie quickly learned that although the company had created company values and displayed them on the wall, these values were not resonating with the team, nor were they truly foundational to the company. The values were to be redeveloped, this time with input from the team, and with a plan to ensure the values were central to the company’s mission. Cut to now: We hire based on these values, we recognize and celebrate based on these values, we conduct reviews based on them, we promote based on them, and our values support our greater shared mission to help.
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As Maggie Domondon noted, Metafora had a number of possibilities for strengthening its corporate culture. It was just a matter of building a culture based on the values and employees' opinions and recommendations.“Truly values drive culture, not just a culture that has values.” Maggie Domondon, Metafora’s VP of People.
As the panel continued, they were asked about the impact on revising the company's values. The team highlights the consistency and authenticity of the culture that has been created, as well as working on the values in onboarding and creating a coherent support system in which everyone can show up every day as their authentic selves.
The biggest impact Metafora has had as a result of a change in the culture is that the business is much easier to run when you have people with a shared set of ideals and values.
Last but not least, Peter was asked about the most important things he has done to improve AND scale the business?
Metafora’s Values are:
Learn more about Metafora and Who We Are here.
Interested in joining our team? Browse career opportunities and learn more about our benefits and perks on our careers page here!